Plymouth, WI
Quoted from DakotaMike:Hey all, title is pretty self-explanatory. I've noticed that after I wax my newer pins with carnauba wax , they play way too fast. Like so crazy fast that it's not fun, and plastics are at risk of getting broken, ect. Is there any way to overcome that?
My old 1980 Black Knight was great with wax, but my new Sterns are awful with it. Even some of my B/W games like Johnny Mnenomic or Mousin' Around are scary fast with wax. I've literally chipped plastics on those games after waxing, to the point where I had to clean the wax off. I left it on some high-wear areas like shooter-lane exits and top rollovers, but that's it.
The only reason I want to wax is to protect the pf, but I don't want to damage plastics and mechs because of the post-wax speed boost, and I don't want the games to play like crap. Is there anything I can do about it?
Right now, I'm operating under the precept that the pf clears on newer Sterns are robust enough that it's not worth the downsides of waxing. As long as I clean the pf regularly, and make sure the balls are in good shape, should I be fine on my newer games? Looking for some advice. At home I don't put enough games on my pins to really worry about it, but I might be doing a little routing soon, so it's of slightly more concern to me now. But again, I'd suspect rough/scratched pinballs are the main cause of pf damage, as well as a lack of mylar over high-wear areas such as ball-drops. What does everyone else think?
You are right that modern games don't really NEED to be waxed the way older ones did. As long as you keep it clean with healthy balls, you should be fine in a home environment. Wax will give a bit more protection, but I'm pretty sure it mostly just helps keep them clean longer. If you do wax (which is best), the crazy fast play will stop after a couple dozen games though, and it will be back to normal.
